[Mb-civic] Re: [Mb-hair] "Active Denial System"

[Michael Butler]

Interesting? Frightening! What horrors next?
Michael

> 
> This is....  Interesting....
> ______
> 
> www.Technovelgy.com
> 
> 
> "Active Denial System Has Researchers Worried"
> 
> The 'Sheriff' Active Denial System (ADS), due to be implemented in Iraq
> by 2006, has some scientists and researchers expressing concerns. ADS is
> a non-lethal, counter-personnel directed energy weapon; it projects a
> focused beam of millimeter-sized waves to induce an intolerable heating
> sensation on the skin of adversaries.
> 
> "What happens if someone in a crowd is unable for whatever reason to
> move away from the beam?" asked Neil Davison, coordinator of the
> nonlethal weapons research project at Britain's Bradford University.
> 
> "How do you ensure that the dose doesn't cross the threshold for
> permanent damage? Does the weapon cut out to prevent overexposure?"
> 
> 
> According to a paper provided by the government, great care has been
> taken to make sure that Active Denial Technology system does not harm
> human beings: 
> 
> A large portion of the investment, about $9 million, has been devoted to
> characterizing the effects of this technology on the human body. This is
> to ensure the effects of millimeter waves are well understood, and that
> a wide safety margin exists between levels that provide operationally
> useful effects and those that may cause injury. Animals and humans have
> been used in the extensive test program, which has been conducted in
> strict compliance with the procedures, laws and regulations governing
> animal and human research. The tests have been reviewed and approved by
> a formal Institutional Review Board with oversight from the Air Force
> Surgeon General's Office. An independent panel of nongovernmental
> medical experts also periodically reviewed and advised on the planning
> aspects and results of the research and test activities.
> 
> In tests carried out on Wednesday at Kirtland Air Force Base in New
> Mexico, participants were asked to remove their glasses and contact
> lenses to protect their eyes. In other tests, participants were asked to
> remove metal objects like coins from their clothing.
> 
> Science fiction fans have been concerned about energy weapons since H.G.
> Wells originated the idea of a heat ray in War of the Worlds.
> 
> The Active Denial System has been in development for almost fifteen
> years; early development was done by the Air Force Research Laboratory
> and the DoD Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate.
> 
> 
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> 
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> 
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